Nigeria’s leading data journalism platform, Dataphyte, has launched the first climate data platform in the country.
The platform is Dataphyte’s programme response to support journalists and civil society organisations with access to country-specific climate data and policy information.
This comes in response to crucial climate issues of nature, food, water, industry decarbonisation, and climate adaptation.
Dataphyte founder, Joshua Olufemi, said the platform will house data, research publications, situation reports and analyses, maps and other visualisation to support various users with information to understand climate change in Nigeria better.
“Likewise, the platform will present conversations from the ongoing COP 27 conference in Egypt this month, relevant social media updates and conversations on the 2023 flooding in Nigeria,” he said.
The flooding of 100 LGAs in 33 states in Nigeria has delivered a brutal reminder that no country or region is immune from the climate crisis.
Stakeholders have identified three critical challenges that have compounded the level of damages, losses and displaced livelihood experienced by the flooding across the country.
They said “First, the gap in climate change and early warning information flow from government institutions to citizens and groups.
“The gap has sustained conventional practices by citizens that cost them their lives and livelihoods; but also aggravated the effect of climate change on their communities.
Second is the lack of aggregated and on-the-ground data about climate change and resultant issues like agriculture, energy, health, transportation and water.
“Thirdly, various incidents such as flooding, desertification, sea level rise, gas flaring and oil spill are rocking the country, and solving these problems required data-backed decisions. Access to data and data-driven insights are essential for finding quick flood solutions, building climate-resilient food systems that can meet the growing global food crisis, and reaching a sustainable and resilient net-zero future.”
The climate data hub will give citizens a chance to contribute through climate reporting to urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, and holding the Nigerian government accountable for fulfilling its commitments to climate action in the face of the increasingly extreme weather events and other effects of climate change, Olufemi said.
The launch of the Climate Data Hub is in line with Dataphyte’s mission to provide access to data and information to support advocacy and demand for accountability that transforms socioeconomic data into usable data-driven insights and analyses that aid citizen groups and policymakers in making informed decisions, thereby promoting the development of Nigeria and Africa, he added.
